SATURDAY STAGE SHOWS

BEACH HOP IS GREAT AT GIVING FUN FOR FREE, AND THE SATURDAYAFTERNOON STAGE SHOWS ARE A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF THAT

There are many things for which Beach Hop is known: most notably, the music, retro style, and the droves of classic cars that fill the town for the week. But in among these obvious choices is another very popular attraction — the stage shows held on Saturday afternoon at the Ford Reserve, known as ‘Williamson Park’ for the other 360 days of the year. This is a big part of Beach Hop, not only for the talent paraded on stage, but also for the fact that this is the place to be for the major prize draws later in the day. With this year’s 1956 Ford F100 prize car up for grabs, as well as a very cool retro caravan and a brand-new Harley-Davidson motorcycle, the large crowd began to swell from the early afternoon as punters ensured a prime seat for the festivities. While the prize draw is undeniably the main attraction, it is by no means the only one, and the early crowds were entertained by Brien McVernon and the Retro Rockets from Oz with their classic retro rockin’ sounds. Beginning proceedings this year was the New World Retro Wearable Arts and Junkyard Fashion Show. With four contestants competing this year, the judges wouldn’t have needed to do too much number-crunching, although the calibre of competition was high, with plenty of imagination put into the art wear. This year’s winner, hailing from Morrinsville, was Prue Bryant, whose eye-catching coat was fashioned from an old tarpaulin and two rather appropriately placed hubcaps. Apparently, making the coat took its toll on her sewing machine, and she ended up finishing her creation by hand — that’s commitment right there. Next up on stage was the BurgerFuel Retro Pin Up Show, and this was huge! After the tremendous response to last year’s event, when entrant numbers topped 60, organizers this year managed to uphold the entrant cap of 40 … not that it made judging any easier, although the panel managed to narrow the field to 10 semi-finalists. After final deliberations and a tally of votes, and a lot of yelling and cheering from the crowd, the results were in.

This year’s winner was Renee Edward from Morrinsville, with Danica Griggs of Auckland as runner-up. Speaking to an overwhelmed Renee backstage, she admitted that this was her first time competing at Beach Hop and that she’d only entered a pin-up competition once before — two weeks previously in Matamata. Finally, we moved on to the music — more specifically, the El Barrio Hop Idol finals. The six shortlisted finalists were each given the opportunity to perform in front of the Beach Hop crowd. Once again, this year’s crowd was very vocal about its favourite, but there could only be one winner, and that honour went to Brianna Rackham and her rendition of Connie Francis’s 1958 hit, ‘ Stupid Cupid’. At only 15 years old, Brianna did a superb job and was definitely a crowd favourite judging by the clapping. The conclusion of these fantastic stage shows had taken us to the moment of truth. We had come to the part of the day where Noddy would be announcing the prize winners from the weekend, as well as the entrants who had secured a spot in Sunday’s Top 10 Shoot Out. Who could they be?